Weather

October 2019 Saint Cloud Weather Summary


Saint Cloud October 2019 Weather Summary  

The rains continued through the first two-thirds of October in St. Cloud and much of Minnesota. Even though the month ended on the longest streak with no measurable rainfall (October 23-31) since March 15-April 1, the October rainfall total was 3.84 inches, 1.35 inches above average. More importantly, the total rainfall for the year reached 38.73 inches, 13.20 inches above average. That makes first 10 months of 2019 the second wettest on record. Only the first 10 months of 1897 were wetter.

Already the 2019 total ranks as the 3rd highest for the entire year, and the most since 1965. The total stands only 0.59 inch behind 1965 and 2.28 inches behind 1897. The weather pattern has dried out considerably with much more northwest-to-southeast flow (see Mid-tropospheric water vapor loop from Colorado State satellite slider), but the average precipitation for November and December combined is 2.20 inches, so the all-time record is possible.

The growing season (April through November) precipitation is up to 34.67 inches, only 0.57 inch behind 1905.

Included in the 105 days with measurable precipitation so far this year are:

A swath of the heaviest monthly rains reached from Redwood Falls through Meeker County, St. Cloud, Foley, and Onamia and to Cloquet and Duluth. Much of this area received over 5 inches of rain in October. This has led to near record flooding for the fall along the Red, Minnesota, and Mississippi Rivers below Lake Pepin. Having so much moisture this late in the season also makes the ground more vulnerable to spring flooding.

The temperature during the precipitation took a major fall during the month as colder weather dominated. This allowed St. Cloud to record its 5th earliest measurable snowfall in St. Cloud records when 0.5 inch fell on the night of October 11 through October 12. The 0.2 inch that fell before midnight on the 11th was only preceded by:

Even with that snow, St. Cloud and most of central and southern Minnesota missed the major blizzard that hit eastern North Dakota, the Red River Valley, and northwestern Minnesota (see NWS Grand Forks Summary of the October 10-12 Blizzard in Red River Valley). Between 1 and 3 feet of snow fell in the western Red River Valley. Fargo-Moorhead and Grand Forks had a mixture of rain, ice, and snow that ended up as accumulating snowfall.

The colder temperatures that dominated the month ended up producing an average temperature of 42.9 degrees, 2.8 degrees below average. While 8 days had temperatures that were above average, there were 6 days with temperatures at least 10 degrees colder than average. The most persistent below average temperatures took place after the rain stopped, when that northwest-to-southeast flow began steering in drier air from Canada. This kept the really moist air from the Gulf of Mexico bottled up well to our south, allowing the colder temperatures.

The colder readings produced St. Cloud's first frost of the year on October 11. The near freezing temperatures allowed the snow to briefly accumulate. The first hard freeze (temperature of 28 degrees or colder) took place on October 24. The first frost was 16 days later than average while the first hard freeze was 20 days later than average. This was not late enough to make up for the late start to the planting season.

The first half of November will be dominated by much colder than average temperatures, thanks to the persistent northwest-to-southeast winds. This will also tend to keep us dry. However, it likely won't allow us to break any temperature records. Nearly all of the late October and early November cold temperature records happened when there was a snow cover. In early November, many of the records were set after the Halloween blizzard of 1991.

St. Cloud's 10 Wettest Years
St. Cloud Daily October Records
Growing Season and Average Fall Frost Dates for St. Cloud

 

    October 2019 Statistics

Temperatures (°F)
October 2019
Normal
Average High Temperature (°F)
50.7
56.3
Average Low Temperature (°F)
35.1
34.3
Mean Temperature for October (°F)
42.9
45.7
Temperature Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
October 2019 Days with High Temperature of 32°F or lower
1
0.4
October 2019 Days with Low Temperature of 32°F or lower
13
10.9
October Temperature Extremes
Temperature(°F)
Date
Warmest High Temperature for October 2019 (°F)
73
October 9
Coldest High Temperature for October 2019 (°F)
32
October 30
Warmest Low Temperature for October 2019 (°F)
52
October 9
Coldest Low Temperature for October 2019 (°F)
16
October 30
Record Temperatures in October 2019
Temperature(°F)
Date
Old Record
No record temperatures set
Precipitation (in)
This Year
Normal
October 2019 Precipitation (in)
3.84
2.49
Growing Season (April-October) 2019 Precipitation (in)
34.76 (+11.52 from average)
23.24
2019 Total Precipitation (in)
38.73 (+13.20 from average)
25.53
Precipitation Thresholds
Number of Days
Normal
October 2019 Days with Measurable (>= 0.01 inch) Precipitation
12
7.4
October 2019 Days with >= 0.10 inch Precipitation
7
4.1
October 2019 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
4
2.5
2019 Days with >= 0.25 inch Precipitation
44 (5th most)
29.9
October 2019 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
2
1.2
2019 Days with >= 0.50 inch Precipitation
31 (3rd most)
16.0
October 2019 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
2
0.4
2019 Days with >= 1.00 inch Precipitation
10 (tied for 7th most)
5.3
October Precipitation Extremes
Precipitation (in)
Date
Most Daily Precipitation in October 2019

1.32 inch

October 21
Record Precipitation in October 2019
Precipitation (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Rainfall
1.21 inch
October 5
0.95 inch in 1946
1.32 inch
October 21
0.83 inch in 2009
Snowfall (in)
This Year
Normal
October 2019 Snowfall (in)
0.5
0.7
October Precipitation Extremes
Snowfall (in)
Date
Most Daily Snowfall in October 2019
0.3
October 12
Record Snowfall in October 2019
Snowfall (in)
Date
Old Record
Daily Record Snowfall
0.2 inch
October 11
Trace in 1946,1959,2006

St. Cloud January Through October Precipitation

(average: 25.53 inches)

Rank Precipitation (in) Year
1 40.13 1897
2 38.73 2019
3 36.66 1965
4 35.28 1905
5 34.91 1903
6 34.83 2002
7 34.08 2014
8 34.07 1951
9 34.03 1986
10 33.68 1990

 

St. Cloud's 10 Wettest Years
St. Cloud Daily October Records
Growing Season and Average Fall Frost Dates for St. Cloud

 

Historic temperature data provided courtesy of the Saint Cloud National Weather Service Office, and NOAA/NWS
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Send comments to: raweisman@stcloudstate.edu